SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay softball team split its doubleheader Friday on the road at Cal State Monterey Bay, breaking out offensively in game two to pick up its first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) victory of the season.
The Pioneers were edged out by the Otters in the series opener by a final score of 2-1. They fell behind 4-0 in the back end of the twinbill before rallying back to even the score, then scoring four runs in the seventh inning to capture the win.
The first game featured a lot of base runners on both sides despite being such a low-scoring contest.
The trend of stranding runners started right away in the first inning. Starting pitcher Bailee Glover walked the bases loaded, so head coach Claire Sua-Amundson quyickly turned to Taylor Lara, and the senior escaped the jam without allowing a run.
Lara pitched the rest of the game, scattering 11 hits but only allowing two runs. The first Otter run came in the bottom of the third, and the score stayed 1-0 until the 6th. East Bay finally put together a scoring rally as Jocelyn Baldon singled to lead off the frame, advanced on Jackie Najera's sacrifice bunt, and scored on a two-out hit by Emilie Portesi.
Unfortunately, the Otters answered right back in the bottom of the frame, stringing together three singles to plate the go-ahead run. The Pioneers got a runner to third base in the seventh, but stranded the potential tying run as Baldon lined out to right field to end the game.
Monterey Bay carried that momentum over into the second game, grabbing a quick lead. CSUEB starter Abby Burkholder walked in a run in the first, then four Otters hits -- including a triple to center -- brought home three more runs in the second.
That prompted Sua-Amundson to bring in Abby Greer out of bullpen, and once again it was the right call. Greer was absolutely brilliant the rest of the way, tossing 5.1 hitless, scoreless innings.
The Pioneers got two runs back right away in the top of the third. Najera doubled to lead things off, then a CSUMB throwing error allowed her to score and let Bailee Aguigui get all the way to third base. She promptly scored on Portesi's sacrifice fly. The following inning, Maddie Ramirez led off with a single, and then doubles by Madi Greco and Najera plated two more runs to tie the score 4-4.
It stayed that way into the seventh inning, when the East Bay bats powered their way to five hits. A double by Portesi and a single by Sarah Fukushima put runners at the corners with one out, then Ramirez gave the Pioneers their first lead with another two-bagger. Run-scoring hits by Greco and Hailey Davis stretched CSUEB's lead out to four runs, then Greer pitched a 1-2-3 inning to close out the victory.
Four Pioneers finished with multiple hits in game two, and six of the team's 10 hits were doubles. They will look to keep that hot hitting going when they return to CSUMB Softball Field on Saturday for another doubleheader to close out the series.
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